Professional cycling in the Emirates is set for a major shake-up after it was announced that the Abu Dhabi Tour and Dubai Tour have been merged and will run as the UAE Tour from 2019.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two governing bodies on Wednesday. The amalgamated event is set to retain its elite UCI World Tour status and consist of seven stages across the country, with next February planned as the running date.

“It is time to elevate the success we have had from both the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Tours to another level,” Abu Dhabi Sports Council general secretary Aref Al Awani was quoted as saying in The National.

“The nature of the UAE has always been to have a united passion. The instructions have come from our leadership that we should utilise the success that we have got as one nation.”

The Dubai Tour was founded in 2014, with the Abu Dhabi event following a year later. The race in the capital was added to the premier UCI World Tour in 2017.

The team’s head medic, who is visiting the emirate as part of Manchester City’s warm weather training camp, also welcomed the opportunity to train in more realistic temperature ranges that he will experience on his racing journey from Oceanside California in California and ending at City Dock Annapolis, Maryland.

He added: “The heat will allow me to push up the intensity of my training, which can really help me prepare for hot conditions during the race across America.

“During the race there will be sections where the temperature is likely to rise significantly into the high 40°C range, even peaking at 50°C.

“Training in these warm conditions this week will give my cardiovascular fitness a big boost.”

Tags

Sections

You must enable Javascript on your browser for the site to work optimally and display sections completely.